PowerArchiver has several methods of activating various options and tools. Almost every option available in PowerArchiver can be accessed directly from the PowerArchiver menu. In addition to the PowerArchiver menu, there are three other methods to select the most frequently used options.

Some PowerArchiver commands can also be accessed by clicking the right mouse button and selecting them from the pop-up menu. There are three pop-up menus. One is displayed when a file or files are selected. Another is displayed when no file is selected. The third menu is displayed when you right click on the toolbar.

In the first pop-up menu, you can perform operations on selected files, including Open, Open With…, Add, Delete, Extract, View, Select All, Invert Selection, File Properties, and other archive operations including Virus Scan, CheckOut, and Test.

In the second pop-up menu, you can select a sort order or view an archive's properties.

In the third pop-up menu, you can set toolbar options, such as displaying text on the buttons, choosing to display or to not display tool tips, choosing alignment of the toolbar, and selecting which buttons are made visible.